Pneumatic suspension wheel



June 3, 1930. F. TESSE PNEUMATIC SUSPENSION WHEEL 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed March 18, 1929 v I "WE/gm 2% ../fld ATTORNEY June 3, 1930. 'F. TESSE PNEUMATIQSUSPENSION WHEEL Filed March 18, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June'3, 1930, F. TESSE PNEUMATIC SUSPENSION WHEEL Filed March 18, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I INVE/VI'OR 4 M ATTORNEY F. TEssE PNEUMATIC SUSPENSION WHEEL June 3, 1930.

Filed Mafch 18, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 7 with reference to Patented ,e June 3, i930 iUNIT PNEUMATIC susrnusioiv i Application filed March 18,1929, Serial no. 348,044, afle 'iil Luiemburg mau;1,';1 2s., Y c I This invention has for itsobject a wholly view 'ofiapneumatic tir'e wheel constructed according to the invention; f

pneumatic suspension wheel. It aims at doing completely awaywith springs in 1 socalled elastic wheelszand incidentally at ren 5 dering said wheels such thatthey may a) a On one hand'take care of thesuspension of the vehicle equippedtherewith, without regard to whether they arelemplo'yed alone or together with ordinary suspension 10 springs and,- in either case, practically avoid both the rebound effect and the abnormal wear of thetire whichresults from skidding on the unevennesses of the road;

' (b') -On the other 'hand,qallow the proi vision of suchmethod of manufacture as will make it possibleto reduceto' a minimum the weight of the unsuspendedportion of'said wheels. v j I This invention consists principally. in pros viding the wheels of. the kind described with such a device as will allow the pressure in the pneumatic tire to be made use of to obtain the suspension of the vehicle equipped wlth said pneumatic tire wheel.

The above devlce comprlses essentially?- 1. Two side plates formed at the periphery thereof with a'groove adapted to receive 'each flanged or wire-stiflened portion of the tire;

2.; An. internal flexible covering adapted "to resist the air pressure in the 'tire',:wh ch covering: engages the above mentioned side- 3. A side time rigid with-the whee1 hub 4. A single or multiple attaching means by which the side plate which'is rigid with thewheel hub isconnected to both wheel 'sidefplates.

nite application (to automobile; vehicles) and certain embodiments of each element of the above device as will be described in the following. Q

The invention will befbetter understood Figure 2-. 1 I a ragni ta y sl v ona the complementary description and appended drawings both of which are mainly given for. explanatory purposes.

Figures ccnteredrwheel' (Fig.3) and across sectional view ofa .wheelin' the position'of running over an obstacle (Fig. 4) respectively- Figures I of the-attaching 556 and Tare crossisectional views cans-by which all three side 7 plates are connected-together.

7 Figures 8 and 9 are cross'sectlonali views showing two different kindslof a fle xible. and deformable covering adapted to resist the air A pressure of the pneumatic tire.

Accordingto the rinventlong'theprovision of a pneumatically suspended wheel using the air pressure in the wheel tire'comprises I the following steps or a similar procedure.

In the arangements shown in Figuresl and 2 there are "plates a and?) such that i 7 1 a) Each of them' ihprovided atfthe' -pe- :ripheral z portion-s thereof with a groove-0 Y used two circular continuous side 7 V adapted to accommodate and maintain}: the

' flanges d of the tireztogetherzwiththe fleXi-a Vlble covering .0 tobe described later on. 1

(5) They carry ringsF-f rigid therewith .whichiare to serve as seats for the connecting 1 1 mechanism :toibe likewisedescribed later; on.

V Theside way' willthus form atthe periphery thereof :2 "a seatzfor both the pneumatic tire g andzth'e plates a and 'b constructed inl that v I flexible covering 6."AI1 inner tube It allows,

cover 6'.

the wheel priseslz- I v stamped outportion'adapted to fitover' I i 1 the hub j of the vehicle; I

together with'aninflation'valve to raisethe pressure, of the fluid concealed in vtheto'ric VOlllIllB' delimited by tire 9V and flexible In the arrangementshown in Figs; 1 and The invention s particularly a a d fiQQQ there is used alsoxa side plate Vi-rigid'with hub and suchfside plate 5 coni- 1 Aperturesla allowing thestu'dsofhub; to I pass theret be secured j nuts; .-f

At the p In'the a hrough andallowing side plate-i to upon hub jby. means of clamping eriphery thereof, apertures adapt- I I edto house the sockets Z of the connecting -means.-" i i rrangement shown in; Figs; 1 and 1160 2 there is also'provided a connectingjmechanism for the three side plates at, b, i consisting in a plurality of tie-rods m'arranged parallel to one another and such that they comprise At one end thereof a ball-like portion 17. adaptedto rotate within socket Z, V p At the other end, two flanged disks 0 rigidly secured upon tie-rods m by means of nuts 1). I H V The last mentioned flanged disks are adapted to engage rings f and prevent same from being drawn apart under the action of thepressure within the tire, which pressure is transmitted to members f by the side plates a and b. .It, is already easy .to-see that the connecting member m is subjected thus: avoiding the abnormal wear consequent 1.- To stresses parallel with the axis thereor on account ofthe pressure within thetire (stresses upon the flange of parts 0) 2. To stresses at right angles to the axis thereof on account of the weight ofthe vehicle (stresses upon balls n). Inasmuch as the sum of'these'various efforts is nil, it follows that the suspension of the vehicle is reallytakencare of by the pressure afforded by the tire..

As shown by the above description, the whole'being suitably designed, assembled and fltted on the vehicle, such a wheel is obtained as will take care of the suspension of the vehicle by using only the air pressure in the pneumatic tire thereof; also such that when saidwheel runs over a protuberance of the road same shall not skid, that is, shall not move laterally with respect to the 1 ground,

1 to skidding.

Figure 4 shows a wheel in the position where it runs over a protuberance the-height ofwhich is JH, without any change in the height of the hub axis. As shown in Fig.

7 4. thetie-rods m parallel with axis gq in Figs. 3 and 1 are tipped by rotation-about ballsn; the flanged disks 0, o instead of bearing in members f with the whole periphery thereof as in Figs. 1 and 3 bear with but alpor'tion of their toric surfaces and carry -w.1th them in their upward movement both side plates an, 7); it must however be noted (Fig. 4) that the rise of Z) is greater than that of a it follows'that the relative positions of both flangeshof the tire are changed both in height and distance (which is another feature of the invention). It also follows thatthecenter line s-s of the ground-engaging section of the tire, which is normal to the ground in has now become, in Fig; 4, tzfi which is no longer normal to the ground.

It further follows that in a well designed wheel the combined swinging action of tierodsm, the'varlation 1n the relative positions of the-tire flanges and the dipping of center 7 l-ineIt-t all result in the distanceR remainon the vehicle hub,

ing approximately constant. This shows, therefore, that the point of contact of the tire with the ground moves vertically, that is, without any sliding or skidding.

It is to be noted thatthe above result is arrived at through the relative displacements of the pneumatic tire flanges.

It is to be noted also that such movements due to rebound eflectsare avoided or notably reduced by the tendency of the tire to center itself with respect to the wheel hub. Finally it ,is to be noted that as the wheel which is the subject matter of the invention does not involve the use of any spring and as the elastic means is provided by a member (the tire.) with which most wheels are already equipped, said wheels maybe constructed so asto reduce to a minimum the weight of the unsuspended portion thereof.

Fig. 7 .shows a connecting device'similar to that of Figs. 1 and at but drawn on a larger scale. V Figs. 5 and 6 show a connecting device similar to that of Fig. 7 but in Fig. 5 for one of the flanged disks othere is substituted a portionof a sphere w.

In Fig.6 'it has been supposedthat' the side platesa, b .(Fig. 1) are mounted crossways so that the stress set up by the tire results in a compression of. member as provided with the tire g; the free edge of the flexible covering is secured by means of a circular flange. I

As-may be understood from the above, the

invention is not limited to the embodiments shown; on the contrary, the same comprises all the modifications thereof that come within the scopeof the appendedclaims.

I claim: j

1. In a vehicle wheel, a' pair of adjacent disks, each having a groove on the periphery thereof, a tire between said disks having portions cooperating with the said grooves,

a disk adapted to be mounted on the vehicle hub, and flexible connecting means between the last mentioneddisk and] each of the first mentioned disks, said means having'pivots in each of said disks. v s

2. In a vehicle wheel, a pair ofdisks, means for mounting a pneumatic tire on said disks and means for flexibly mounting said disks said last named means including tilting'rods.

3. In a vehicle wheel, a' pair of disks, a pneumatic tire mounted on said disks andhaving means tending to force said disks apart, a disk mounted on the vehiclehu'bg a", V

series of rods connecting all of said disks and pivotedthere'on, and means ,on said rods for restraining the pressure of the pneumatic I tire against the aforementioned pair-of disks.-

4:. Ina vehicle Wheel, a pair of disks, a pneumatic tire mounted on said disks, in-

terlocking means between said disks and said 7 tire, an internal flexible covering adapted to reslst the air pressure, 1n the tlre, sald covering being in contact With 'each'of the disks. a third disk adapted vto be mounted on the vehicle hub, and tilting means connecting all of said disks whereby the pneumatic tire may adjust itself to road obstructions With respect to the vehicle hub.

In testimonywhereof I aflix my signature.

FELIX TESSE. 

